Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLP is pleased to announce that Stephanie Robbins has been named a partner in the firm as of January 1, 2024. Stephanie Robbins joined Harmon Curran as a Senior Associate in 2021 and has over 13 years of experience as a lawyer in advocacy, politics, and nonprofit organizations. At Harmon Curran, Stephanie works with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, including charitable organizations, social welfare groups, political committees, friends of organizations, and private foundations. She provides timely and cogent advice on numerous topics, includin ..read more

Every year, the Internal Revenue Service publishes its “Dirty Dozen,” which represents “the worst of the worst tax scams.” The Dirty Dozen always includes “fake charities.” These scam organizations weaponize human compassion for their gain and defraud the generous public of millions of dollars every year. One of the ways this fraud occurs is through calls from telemarketers – specifically, robocalls. For example, a group of five political nonprofits nominally supporting police officers, veterans, and firefighters raised over $89 million through robocalls but less than $1 million was actually s ..read more

Brett Kappel was quoted in NewsDay talking about a super PAC that gave most of its money to a George Santos campaign consultant. Kappel said, “Super PACs sometimes simply fail in their mission to raise enough money for pricey independent ad buys on candidates’ behalf.” He went on further to say, “the fact that there are no independent expenditures at all would be very unusual. Usually, at the very least, they would buy some digital ads or something, even if they made very little money off of the fundraiser.” The post Brett Kappel was recently quoted in NewsDay discussing a George Santos-tied s ..read more

Brett Kappel was quoted in NewsDay discussing the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into George Santos. Kappel stated, “the use of recount committees, or separate bank accounts in a campaign committee, to pay for absentee ballot counts appears to be a new development. While the FEC [advisory opinion] does allow the creation of recount funds for the purpose of counting absentee ballots, I’m not aware of that being done until recently.” Kappel went on to say, “This is Trump’s base, and there are people out there who give $5 or $10 to anybody they think is MAGA.” The post Brett Kap ..read more

Brett Kappel was recently quoted in Roll Call discussing why 18 House and Senate campaign committees owe at least $100,000 each, for a total of almost $6 million in unpaid bills. He stated that there are “typically three reasons why campaigns don’t pay off debt when they have the cash on hand. First, they may be waiting for additional invoices to roll in before they pay off vendors in full. Second, there may be a dispute over payments. Third, candidates may continue to raise money to retire debt without having to then file to run for reelection, or a different office.” Kappel continued ..read more

Brett Kappel was quoted in The New York Times discussing George Santos’ use of campaign money for legal expenses as it relates to the New York politician’s possible run for re-election in 2024. Kappel said that the Federal Election Commission’s “guidance was also ‘pretty liberal’ regarding the use of campaign money for legal expenses. Candidates can use funds for legal fees tied to ‘any investigation related to your status as an officeholder or candidate.’ The inquiries into Mr. Santos’s campaign finances would likely qualify.” The post Brett Kappel was recently quoted in The New York Times re ..read more

During the past several months, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and IRS each announced inflation-adjusted limits and other rates that went into effect on January 1. The FEC released updated contribution limits for the 2023-2024 campaign cycle. Some of these campaign contribution limits are indexed every odd-numbered year for inflation. The limit on what an individual may give to a federal candidate has increased to $3,300 per election, up from $2,900. (Note that a primary and a general election are considered two different elections). The limit on what an individual may give to a nationa ..read more

As the year comes to a close, DC employers should make sure they are complying with several new employment laws that went into effect in 2022 or that will become effective in 2023. Limitations on Non-Compete and Conflict of Interest Policies As of October 1, 2022, the DC law limiting non-competition agreements and employer policies on outside employment became applicable to DC employers, after significant changes were made from the original 2020 ban which never went into effect.  While the current law is less restrictive than the earlier version, as of October 1, 2022, employers with empl ..read more

DC law requires all employers to give requesting employees at least two hours of paid leave to vote in person if the employee would have been scheduled to work during the time that leave is required. Employers can specify the hours that employees take leave including by requiring that the leave be during early voting or at the beginning or end of working hours. Employers must also post a notice of employees’ right to time off to vote in this November election. The notice must be posted conspicuously at all sites where employees report to work and on the employers’ website, if applicable. Other ..read more

The Republicans are waging war on Google’s spam filter.  On April 26, 2022, the Republic National Committee (RNC), National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Google. The compliant is based on a North Carolina State University study that purports to determine whether the spam filters of three major e-mail providers – Google, Outlook, and Yahoo – expressed a bias in blocking political e-mails during the 2020 election (the study is attached to the complaint ..read more